Theme - Deceit Flashcards
• at the beginning of the play, Nora appears to be dutifully obedient and honest wife, however it is quickly revealed that she is hiding a serious secret from her husband. This renders all her statements about never disobeying him and hiding anything from deceitful. After telling Mrs linde about her deceit, she insists that a marriage cannot succeed when husband and wife are not completely honest with each other. A parallel occurs between Nora and krogstad when it is revealed that they both committed forgery. Their acts of deception speak the unravelling of both their lives. Krogstads reputation is ruined and Nora is forced to re-evaluate everything about herself and the society that surrounds her, causing her to make the shocking decision to leave at the end of the play. In some ways, deceit is presented as a corrupting and corroding force in the people’s lives. However, in Nora’s case, it is clear that the motivation for her dishonesty was love. She deceived her husband to save his life. Furthermore, her actions wouldn’t have had to be deceitful if it weren’t for the societal law dictating that women were not allowed to handle financial matters independently. Therefore Nora’s deceit was not a result of a personal flaw, but rather the only means necessary of overcoming restrictions in order to commit a noble act.
“I am not so _____________ that I would necessarily want to condemn a ______ for a single mistake like that”
Heartless
Man
• in this passage torvald explains that krogstad has committed forgery, and when she suggests that he might have done so out of necessity, torvald replies that krogstad was probably just careless - but that even so, torvald would have forgiven him. Here torvald presents himself as a fair and reasonable source of moral authority with the individual power to bestow forgiveness on others. This quote also confirms that torvald despises deceit over anything else; although forgery is illegal, it is krogstads dishonesty that torvald finds inexcusable. Torvalds words here also carry implications that he might react the same way when he finds out that Nora has committed forgery but also borrowed money. However, as this could be seen as only “one mistake” Ibsen leads us to believe that torvald might forgive Nora. But at the plays climax, torvald does not behave in the way he describes in this statement; instead he shows no mercy towards Nora behaving in a manner that is truly heartless. Though this can actually also represent the double standards torvald has, his first initial reaction is completely different than to how he reacts in reality which can be an act of deception in itself. Thus confirming the superior power men had over women and how they are above these acts.
